Cooperative Land Banks

Pat Conaty writes:

“The issue and question for me though is: Is the current system reformable? It appears not to be or at least in relation to the dominant parts. Therefore the arguments for ecological reconstruction that Gar Alperovitz has been advancing seems to me to be the viable and practical way forward. Critical to any solution is a model for change that enables monopoly and enclosure to be overcome and to do so steadily and inexcorably without descending into civil war.

What the current system cannot abide and what small businesses, citizens, nature and the Co-op sector require is viable alternatives to the corruption of an amalgam of financial feudalism (Jeff Gates) and industrial serfdom (Ivan Illich). These alternatives do exist and are or have been a part of the global economy. However these alternatives are repressed or subordinate.

On this topic and for an evolutionary and equitable solution, you and colleagues may find of interest this article drawn from my book with Mike Lewis. The focus is on the concept of a Co-operative Land Bank. The precedent is Letchworth Garden City in England that did create a city upon Co-operative Land but it was subject to a corporate raid in the 1960s and had to be rescued by the national government.

Shann Turnbull is a close friend and he has been working on these Ownership Transformation Corporation ideas since the 1970s. He wrote a wonderful book in the 1970s called Democratising the Wealth of Nations, that addresses the blindspots of Adam Smith.”

Cccr – i42011nov30_clb by kev.flanagan

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